El Sebou' - Egyptian Birth Ritual

In Egypt, a birth ritual called el-sebou', meaning "the seventh", happens on the seventh day following the physical birth of a child of either sex and is celebrated by Coptic and Muslim families of all status groups, rural and urban. Characteristic of this ritual is the gender-linked imagery also manifest in the ritual clay pot. The ceremony celebrates the newborn's crossing a threshold from a neutral gender and status into a world of gender differentiation and family hierarchy.

This particular sebou' is celebrated for twins, a boy and a girl, in a rising middle class Muslim family in urban Egypt. Anthropologist Fadwa El Guindi portrays the sebou' ritual as a rite of passage with the universal three phases of transition (separation, liminality, incorporation) and as the key ceremony in an individual's life cycle until marriage.

Focusing on — and showing the proveniences of — the variety of objects and materials, the film's perspective highlights the central role of the female ritual leader and provides a kinesthetic spatial sense of the ceremony. The editing combines both an analytic and an emic approach, allowing the participants to speak for themselves without losing a broader anthropological perspective.

"Unique. There's nothing like it dealing with rites of passage, particularly in an urban setting, in the Middle East. It fills an important gap and tells the story very well…very well-done." — Professor Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Rhode Island College

"This is an ethnographic film in the best tradition of art and anthropology. It breathes life into Van Gennep's classic model of rites-of-passage." — Professor André Simic, University of Southern California

"A powerful bonding ceremony…watching this extraordinary film one has the feeling to be in their midst…a truly fascinating document in the best tradition of ethnographic filmmaking…a very balanced blend of emic and etic approaches." — Privadozent Dr. Wulf Schiefenhövel